Music composer A R Rahman has found himself in the middle of a language war a week after he performed at a concert at Wembley Arena on 8th July. Social media was abuzz with disappointment after a section of the audience at the concert reportedly walked out, alleging he played more Tamil numbers than Hindi ones.
The show was initially meant to happen in November 2016, but got cancelled and postponed to July 2017. Sources reveal it even changed sponsors. Many Indians living in the UK, booked tickets, some reading about it on Rahman's Facebook page, some looking at posters in their local corner shops and some read widely circulated messages on social media.
Tickets were sold at various prices, and the Arena could hold upto 12,500 people. The show started and Rahman went on a musical journey of 25 years, but many offended audience walked out, as neither they could understand nor relate to the language of the songs being played. They tweeted, they wrote to the organisers and the media got involved. As a community newspaper, some people approached Asian Voice too.
Twitter went into frenzy, people called non-Tamils intolerant towards any language other than Tamil, some justified Rahman’s roots and a lot more followed. Some people even demanded a refund for their tickets. What people did not at all address is the actual problem here. It is not having to hear songs unfamiliar to one's taste, it is actually the feeling of not knowing what the evening could have in store, especially when it involved payments.
Asian Voice spoke to many people who went to the show and here are our findings:
First, the show was called 'yesterday, today and tomorrow. 25 years of musical journey.' Some people claim it was called 'netru, indru, nalai' which means yesterday, today and tomorrow in Tamil. The question is who is right? The correct answer is both. Posters on the streets, shops, social media said in plain English 'A R Rahman live 2017, celebrating his musical journey: yesterday, today and tomorrow.'
However, on Facebook, Rahman himself posted in March and June: 'BTOS productions and I are pleased to announce Netru Indru Nalai on the 8th of July at the SSE Arena, Wembley.' Many who follow Rahman saw his post and bought the tickets, but many others were familiar with his Bollywood popularity only who went ahead to buy their ticket.
There have been some tailor made posters here and there. Most saying 'yesterday, today, tomorrow' but there is no proof that some were not printed in Tamil, though Asian Voice has not seen one so far. Many audience saw the Tamil phrase for this first time at the venue, and were not aware about it before.
It is still not clear if Rahman used the Tamil phrase in his post as a figure of speech as a Tamil himself or was it meant to be indicative of the nature of the show. One must not forget that he even gave his acceptance speech in Tamil at the Oscars.
Rahman has had a long history of being a music composer in Tamil cinema before he gave music for Bollywood, but it was Jai Ho and Oscars that made him a household name. Frankly it wasn't one of his best compositions yet it found place in the world's heart. Such is the power of music. He is brilliant in his compositions, known to be very shy as a man, but what he lacked to portray at this event is a natural instinct of an entertainer, ie clarity and ability to feel the pulse of the audience.
Second, Indian media largely reported there were 16 songs in Hindi and 12 were in Tamil. However as Asian Voice contacted both the Tamil and non Tamil audience who attended the show, most said more songs were in Tamil than Hindi, though quite a few people did say it was an equal balance.
Some from the audience mentioned that the Hindi Songs that were performed at the concert were: Tu hi re, Choti si asha, Dil de re, Jiya re jiya, Agar tum saathis ho, Enna sona kyun, Mayya mayya, Sachin, Kun faya, Maula maula, Khwaja mere khwaja, Oh hum dum suniyo re, Pataka khudi. Some of the Tamil songs played were: Chandraleka, Uppu karuvadu, Urvashi, Humma humma, Azagiye, Usilampatti, Athangara, Marame, Ballelkka, Kadhalikkum pengal, Sarattu vandiyil, Aathangara marame, Putham pudhu boomi and jai ho.
Sujatha Menon told Asian Voice, “We had known it was a Tamil oriented show as Rahman himself announced it on facebook and Twitter back in March. This was postponed from last November to early this year July. In March he did mention it was going to be a Tamil oriented concert with new singers added. I had brought tickets for November which was postponed to march nd refunded not due to language issue but as date was not possible. However few sponsored ads and Rahman's facebook/twitter updates did give insight of how it's going to be. Problem was sponsors changed and thus the theme. However that wasn't properly communicated by sponsors to those who purchased tickets in November/March.”
Bhavna Zodge told Asian Voice, “We bought the tickets from ticket master and the title was celebration of 25 years of music. It didn't specify 'netru indru nalai' nor 'yesterday today tomorrow', so we were not aware of it when when we bought the tickets.
Preeti Basra said, “I won complimentary tickets and only saw 'Netru Indru Nalai' at the venue. However as I have attended his previous concerts I was aware Tamil songs will be sung. At this show it was a 60/40 ratio of Tamil/Hindi songs. I was not unhappy but a little disappointed as some of my favourite Hindi hits were not sung.
“The issue is about setting expectations for audience who paid for their tickets. Even if audience who do not read Tamil saw posters in Tamil they wouldnt have a clue what it says it can be taken as advertising in a different language. It would help if they are clear about it in plain English so people can understand and do not feel cheated and disappointed as then they could make an informed choice.”
Nuzrath Fathima said, “I felt all Tamil songs were peppy numbers and literally I was dancing to them. As far as Hindi is concerned it was kind of soft songs and people quietly enjoyed. I could hear noises only for Tamil because it was fast beats. It was indeed a 60/40 mix of Tamil and Hindi songs respectively.”
Sangeetha Mani told us, “The songs were 70% Tamil and 30% Hindi. I am a mix of Hindi speaking mum and Tamil speaking dad myself. I enjoy both languages equally..and I don't believe the show was anyway unfair to anyone. In fact I believe the hard feelings among my fellow Hindi speaking friends arose due to lack of understanding on what they had signed in for...The title was clearly a Tamil one depicting his work in the music field and music actually has no language. Anyone who truly loves music would have enjoyed the show like I and many other hindi speaking friends of mine did.”
Sonam Prasad told the newsweeklies, “I attended the AR Rahman show along with my husband and frankly speaking music was awesome. But little disheartened with very few Hindi songs. Please note I am not complaining about the Tamil songs but very few famous Bollywood songs.”
Padma Balasubramaniam said, “My husband and I were at the show. We are Tamilians. But enjoyed both Hindi & Tamil songs as they are the same scores. Yes. We knew it as a show in Tamil - Netru, Indru, Nalai. We didn't keep a count of Tamil and Hindu songs but its was more or less equal. As a Tamilian the controversy has left a bad taste in the mouth. A legend who won so many international awards cannot be confined to a particular language. Very disturbing to see the dispute blowing out of proportion both here and in India, right upto to Arnab's show and in the Facebook groups in London.”
Charu Sood said, “The tickets or posters it had no mention of Tamil. If I would have known I would have never purchased tickets spending £180 and then arranged baby sister for kids. Wasted about £250 on a night.”
Third it is about geography of a city. When Rahman performed for the first time in London, it was in the O2 arena in South London, and most of his audience were Tamil. Even the sponsors were of Tamil origin. Yet he performed only 3-4 songs in Tamil and most were Hindi. South London, East London are homes for London's Tamil community. Wembley is in the heart of the Indians settled from North and West of India, and it is quite obvious that most audience will be non Tamilians. But then again people travel miles to see and do their favourite things and London that way is well connected.
The issue at this concert was not that of language supremacy or favouritism. As some of the comments above clearly mention: it was about making a conscious choice. While not everybody saw Rahman's tweets or facebook comments, tickets and posters did not mention what audience could expect from the show- and much was left to imagination. A common man will go with what they believe and hope. And with money involved, disappoints led to fiascos, and that blew out of proportion. Even Rahman tweeted about it and at the IIFA in New York he said, “I love the way people have supported (me) for all these years. Without them, I am nothing. I am grateful to all of them...We try our best. We try to be honest," after being asked about all the hate on social media. We are sure things would be different next time. A lesson has been learnt, things will be forgotten and forgiven, fans' hearts will be won back again. As Scarlett O'Hara famously said in the novel Gone with The Wind, “After all, tomorrow is another day.”
